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The Cripps Mission and the Quit India Movement, 1942–1944

Quit India and the INA, 1937–1946 · Part 2 / 3 · Fact-checked on · how we check

Written with AI from the sources listed at the bottom of this page, then fact-checked by a separate AI.

Why Britain sent Sir Stafford Cripps and why his offer failed, the Wardha and Bombay resolutions and 'Do or Die', the arrests of 9 August 1942, the spread of the movement and its underground leaders, the parallel governments of Ballia, Tamluk and Satara, repression and the parties that stayed away, Gandhi's fast and release, and the C. R. formula.

Part 1 ended with the individual satyagraha winding down as Japan entered the war. This part covers 1942 to 1944, the most intense years of the struggle. With Japanese armies near India, Britain sent the Cripps Mission; its failure convinced Gandhi that only a demand for an immediate end to British rule would do. The result was the Quit India Movement of August 1942, the largest rising against British rule since 1857. Its leaders were jailed within hours, so students, peasants and underground workers led it, in a few districts even setting up their own governments. The part closes with Gandhi's fast in prison, his release in 1944 and his talks with Jinnah.

Early in 1942 the war turned sharply against Britain in Asia. Singapore fell to Japan in February and Rangoon in March, and Japanese forces stood on the border of India. Britain needed Indian cooperation, and it was under pressure from its allies, above all the United States under President Roosevelt and China under Chiang Kai-shek, and from Labour ministers in its own coalition, to show it was serious about Indian freedom. Churchill's government therefore sent Sir Stafford Cripps, a member of the War Cabinet known to be friendly with Congress leaders, to India in March 1942 with a set of proposals approved in London. This was the Cripps Mission. Unlike the August Offer, it came with a definite plan for the future constitution, but it was presented as a whole: Indian parties were asked to take it or leave it.

The Draft Declaration that Cripps brought had two halves, one for after the war and one for the present. After the war an Indian Union would be created with dominion status, free even to leave the Commonwealth. A constitution-making body would be set up, its British Indian members elected by the provincial assemblies through proportional representation and the princely states sending representatives in proportion to their population. Any province that did not accept the new constitution could keep its existing position and later make a separate agreement with Britain, with the same status as the Union. For the present, Britain would keep control of defence as part of its world war effort, while the leaders of the main sections of Indian opinion were invited to join the Viceroy's council. In short, the promise for the future was large, but the power on offer during the war was small, and the future plan opened a door to division.

Every major party found something to reject. The Indian National Congress objected that there was no real national government now, that defence would stay in British hands, that the princes' representatives would be chosen by the rulers rather than by their people, and above all that the right of provinces to stay out threatened the unity of India. A remark widely attributed to Gandhi described the plan as a post-dated cheque. The Muslim League welcomed the provincial option but rejected the plan because it did not clearly concede Pakistan and offered only one constitution-making body. Other groups too had objections (see the table). Talks broke down, and Cripps left India in April 1942. Many in India concluded that Churchill had never meant the offer to succeed, and bitterness grew sharply.

Why the Cripps proposals were rejected
GroupMain objection
Indian National CongressNo real national government now; defence kept by Britain; princes' members nominated; provincial option threatens unity
Muslim LeaguePakistan not clearly conceded; a single constitution-making body
Hindu MahasabhaOpposed the right of provinces to stay out of the Union
Depressed classes' leadersFeared being left without safeguards
SikhsFeared being placed in a separate Muslim-majority Punjab

Gandhi now decided that the time for half measures was over. The failure of Cripps showed that Britain would not part with power during the war. Prices were rising and goods were scarce. The way Britain had abandoned Malaya and Burma, and reports that Indian refugees from Burma were treated worse than European ones, shook faith in British protection. Gandhi argued that Japan threatened India because Britain was there, and that a free India would resist an invader far better than a subject one. On 14 July 1942 the Congress Working Committee at Wardha accepted the idea of a struggle and demanded that British rule end at once. Nehru and some others at first feared that a movement might help Japan, but came round, and the matter went to the All India Congress Committee in Bombay.

On 8 August 1942 the All India Congress Committee, meeting at the Gowalia Tank maidan in Bombay, passed the Quit India resolution. It declared that British rule in India must end immediately, both for India's sake and for the success of the Allied cause; that a provisional government would be formed once the British withdrew, and that a free India would throw its resources into the struggle against fascism. To win this it sanctioned a mass struggle on non-violent lines, on the widest possible scale, under Gandhi's leadership, and added that if the leaders were arrested, every Indian who desired freedom must be his own guide. In his speech Gandhi gave the mantra 'Do or Die': we shall either free India or die in the attempt. He also gave instructions for each group: government servants should declare their loyalty to the Congress without resigning, soldiers should refuse to fire on their own people, students could leave their studies if they were ready to stand firm, and the princes should accept the sovereignty of their people.

The government did not wait for the movement to begin. In the early hours of 9 August 1942 Gandhi and all the top leaders of the Congress were arrested. Gandhi was held in the Aga Khan Palace at Poona, and the members of the Working Committee, among them Nehru, Patel and Azad, in Ahmednagar Fort. The Congress was declared an unlawful association, its offices were raided and its funds frozen. The same morning Aruna Asaf Ali hoisted the Congress flag at Gowalia Tank before the crowd that had gathered for the meeting. The arrests left the movement with no plan from above, so local people decided for themselves what 'Do or Die' meant, and the protest quickly took forms that Gandhi had not laid down.

The movement passed through stages. First came hartals, strikes and clashes with the police in the cities, with students and workers in the lead. Within weeks the centre of gravity moved to the countryside, above all in Bihar and eastern United Provinces, Midnapore in Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Orissa, where crowds cut telegraph wires, tore up railway lines and attacked police stations, post offices and other symbols of government. Leadership passed to an underground network that included Jayaprakash Narayan, who escaped from Hazaribagh jail in November 1942, Ram Manohar Lohia, Aruna Asaf Ali, Sucheta Kripalani and Achyut Patwardhan. In Bombay, Usha Mehta and her colleagues ran a secret Congress Radio that carried the movement's news for some weeks. Women were prominent: Matangini Hazra, an elderly peasant woman, was shot dead while leading a procession at Tamluk, and Kanaklata Barua, a young girl, was killed while trying to hoist the flag at a police station in Assam.

In a few places the rebels went further and replaced British authority with a parallel government of their own. In Ballia, in eastern United Provinces, Chittu Pandey led a rising in August 1942 that drove out the local officials and held the district briefly before troops returned. In Tamluk, in Midnapore district of Bengal, a national government, the Jatiya Sarkar, functioned from December 1942 to September 1944, with its own volunteer force and courts, and it organised relief after the cyclone that had struck the area. In Satara in Maharashtra the Prati Sarkar, led by figures such as Nana Patil and Y. B. Chavan, ran people's courts, settled disputes, punished informers and moneylenders, and lasted the longest of the three. They showed that in some districts British rule now rested on force alone.

Parallel governments of the Quit India Movement
PlaceName and leadersDuration
Ballia (eastern United Provinces)Rising led by Chittu PandeyAugust 1942, briefly
Tamluk (Midnapore, Bengal)Jatiya Sarkar (national government), with its own volunteer forceDecember 1942 to September 1944
Satara (Maharashtra)Prati Sarkar; Nana Patil, Y. B. Chavan; people's courtsLongest-lasting of the three

The government answered with the harshest repression since 1857. Police and troops fired on crowds again and again; in some places aircraft machine-gunned them from the air. Villages were burnt or made to pay collective fines, suspects were flogged, and tens of thousands were arrested. By the end of 1942 the open mass phase had been crushed, though underground activity went on into 1943 and beyond. The Muslim League kept away and asked Muslims to do the same. The Communist Party of India opposed the movement, because after Germany attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941 it called the conflict a 'people's war' to be supported. The Hindu Mahasabha also did not back it, and the princes stood by the British.

The government blamed Gandhi and the Congress for the violence of 1942. Gandhi, who said the real cause was the government's own provocation, began a 21-day fast in the Aga Khan Palace on 10 February 1943. Crowds gathered in protest across the country, and three Indian members of the Viceroy's Executive Council resigned, but Linlithgow did not give way; Gandhi survived the fast. Prison brought personal loss: his secretary Mahadev Desai died at the Aga Khan Palace in August 1942, and Kasturba Gandhi died there on 22 February 1944. In 1943 Bengal suffered a terrible famine, made worse by wartime policy, which deepened anger against British rule. Gandhi's own health failed, and he was released on 6 May 1944. The C. Rajagopalachari formula of 1944 proposed that the Muslim League back the demand for independence and join a provisional government; that after the war a commission mark out the contiguous Muslim-majority districts of the north-west and east, where a plebiscite of all adult inhabitants would decide on separation; and that defence, commerce and communications be shared in any case. Gandhi met Jinnah in Bombay in September 1944, but the talks failed: Jinnah wanted the two-nation theory accepted and only Muslims to vote, and he rejected the idea of common arrangements.

The Quit India Movement did not win independence in 1942, and its open phase was crushed within months. Its importance lay elsewhere. It carried the demand for freedom to villages, students, workers and women as never before, and showed that ordinary people would act even without their leaders. After 1942 the question was no longer whether Britain would leave, but when and how; and Britain, exhausted by war, saw that ruling India against its people's will would need ever more force. Yet the League's absence and the failed Gandhi-Jinnah talks showed that the communal question would shape the final settlement. Part 3 turns to Subhas Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army.

Exam traps

Recap

Practice questions

Q1. Which one of the following was a provision of the Draft Declaration brought by the Cripps Mission (1942)?

  1. Immediate transfer of the defence portfolio to an Indian member
  2. A province unwilling to accept the new constitution could stay out of the Indian Union
  3. Members of the constitution-making body from the princely states to be elected by their people
  4. Complete independence for India immediately after the proposals were accepted
Show answer

Answer: B. A province unwilling to accept the new constitution could stay out of the Indian Union

(b) is correct: the provincial option let a province keep its existing position and stay out of the Union. (a) is wrong because Britain was to keep control of defence during the war. (c) is wrong because the princes' representatives were to be appointed by the rulers. (d) is wrong because the offer was dominion status after the war, not immediate independence.

Q2. Consider the following statements:
1. The Congress Working Committee accepted the idea of a struggle for the immediate end of British rule at Wardha on 14 July 1942.
2. The Quit India resolution was passed by the All India Congress Committee at Bombay on 8 August 1942.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: C. Both 1 and 2

(c) is correct: the Working Committee's Wardha resolution of 14 July was confirmed by the All India Congress Committee at Gowalia Tank, Bombay, on 8 August 1942. (a) and (b) are wrong because each leaves out a true statement. (d) is wrong because both are true.

Q3. Match List I with List II:
List I (Parallel government) — List II (Place)
A. Jatiya Sarkar — 1. Ballia
B. Prati Sarkar — 2. Tamluk
C. Rising led by Chittu Pandey — 3. Satara
Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. A-2, B-3, C-1
  2. A-3, B-2, C-1
  3. A-1, B-3, C-2
  4. A-2, B-1, C-3
Show answer

Answer: A. A-2, B-3, C-1

(a) is correct: the Jatiya Sarkar was at Tamluk in Midnapore, the Prati Sarkar at Satara and Chittu Pandey's rising at Ballia. (b) is wrong because it swaps Tamluk and Satara. (c) is wrong because it puts the Jatiya Sarkar at Ballia. (d) is wrong because it places the Prati Sarkar at Ballia and Chittu Pandey at Satara.

Q4. During the Quit India Movement, the secret Congress Radio in Bombay was run by:

  1. Aruna Asaf Ali
  2. Sucheta Kripalani
  3. Usha Mehta
  4. Matangini Hazra
Show answer

Answer: C. Usha Mehta

(c) is correct: Usha Mehta and her colleagues ran the underground Congress Radio. (a) is wrong because Aruna Asaf Ali is remembered for hoisting the flag at Gowalia Tank and for underground leadership. (b) is wrong because Sucheta Kripalani worked in the underground organisation, not the radio. (d) is wrong because Matangini Hazra was shot leading a procession at Tamluk.

Q5. Consider the following statements about the Quit India Movement:
1. The Communist Party of India supported the movement.
2. The Muslim League kept away from the movement.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: B. 2 only

(b) is correct: the Muslim League stayed away and asked Muslims to do the same. Statement 1 is wrong because the Communist Party, following its 'people's war' line after June 1941, opposed the movement. So (a) and (c) are wrong, and (d) is wrong because statement 2 is true.

Q6. Consider the following statements:
1. After the arrests of 9 August 1942, Gandhi was held in Ahmednagar Fort.
2. Kasturba Gandhi died in detention at the Aga Khan Palace in February 1944.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: B. 2 only

(b) is correct: Kasturba died at the Aga Khan Palace on 22 February 1944. Statement 1 is wrong because Gandhi was held at the Aga Khan Palace, Poona; Ahmednagar Fort held the Working Committee members. So (a) and (c) are wrong, and (d) is wrong because statement 2 is true.

Q7. Consider the following statements about the C. Rajagopalachari formula (1944):
1. It proposed that a plebiscite of all adult inhabitants of the contiguous Muslim-majority districts decide on separation.
2. Jinnah accepted it as the basis of a settlement in his talks with Gandhi.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

(a) is correct: the formula provided for a plebiscite of all adult inhabitants of those districts. Statement 2 is wrong because Jinnah rejected it, insisting on the two-nation theory and a vote of Muslims alone, and the talks of September 1944 failed. So (b) and (c) are wrong, and (d) is wrong because statement 1 is true.

Q8. Which one of the following best explains why Britain sent the Cripps Mission in March 1942?

  1. The Quit India Movement had forced Britain to negotiate
  2. Japan's advance to India's borders and pressure from Britain's allies and Labour ministers made Indian cooperation urgent
  3. The Muslim League had demanded a constituent assembly
  4. The war in Europe had ended
Show answer

Answer: B. Japan's advance to India's borders and pressure from Britain's allies and Labour ministers made Indian cooperation urgent

(b) is correct: the fall of Singapore and Rangoon brought Japan to India's border, and the United States, China and Labour ministers pressed Britain to win Indian support. (a) is wrong because Quit India began only in August 1942, after Cripps had failed. (c) is wrong because the League was then demanding Pakistan, not a single constituent assembly. (d) is wrong because the war in Europe ended only in 1945.

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